Those driving over the bridge on Harris Road in the Sessums community will have to take a detour as work starts on repairing faulty supports.
Oktibbeha County supervisors voted unanimously Tuesday to immediately close the bridge. During the emergency meeting, County Engineer Clyde Pritchard said the 72-foot bridge, which crosses a small creek, has two bench supports that need to be replaced.
Debris and erosion have caused the damage, and the two ends of the bridge are resting on land instead of the cross benches, Pritchard said.
“We’re afraid one big storm bringing a tree down could basically take it out,” Pritchard said. “We should repair it and get it back into service as soon as possible.”
A survey crew will assess damage and repair costs later this week. The county has performed similar repairs to what Pritchard called Bailey bridges in the county. A Bailey bridge is a truss bridge that features easily removable elements.
The board voted to place barriers and signage at each end to stop traffic.
County Road Manager Victor Collins said traffic will detour back to Chapel Hill Road. Additionally, East Oktibbeha schools have been notified of the closure, and proper school bus turnarounds have been created.
Collins stressed the bridge is in severe condition.
“One wrong move on a bridge like that could be disaster,” Collins said. “One big rain, that bench knocks down, and it’ll just pull itself in the creek.”
The stretch of Harris Road affected by the bridge closing doesn’t have many residences. Most of the area is farmland owned by Mississippi State University. Most of the residential area is on the north end of Harris Road, which connects to Chapel Hill Road.
County Administrator Don Posey said five to six county bridges are similar to the one on Harris Road. The bridge was built by MSU, and the county inherited the bridge roughly 25 years ago.
Repair funds will come from the county’s bridge repair budget, which is about $2.2 million for the 2011-2012 fiscal year.
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